President Javier Milei says Argentina has overcome recession and is showing signs of recovery.
“The period of pain is over,” the head of state told business leaders at an event celebrating the centenary of the Cámara Argentina de Comercio y Servicios chamber group in Buenos Aires on Thursday.
“The recession is over. We are emerging from the desert, the country has finally begun to grow,” he said.
Milei, who has introduced deep spending cuts and pushed through thousands of state employee lay-offs since taking office last December, was bullish in his speech to business leaders.
Recent data from the INDEC national statistics institute showed that industrial production grew 2.6 percent in September compared to the previous month and construction increased 2.4 percent compared to August, although both indicators were down 6.1 percent and 24.8 percent year-on-year respectively.
In his address, the President said that the "incipient improvement in the economy will soon be a reality for all Argentines," and that "the economic programme that we set out in December worked and is working."
Milei, who uses the metaphor of a “chainsaw” to refer to his austerity policies, highlighted progress on inflation, which slowed to 3.5 percent in September. Annual, it remains at around 200 percent year-on-year – one of the highest rates in the world.
“We made a shock adjustment focused mainly on a public sector that was sustained by a fiscal deficit and monetary issuance. And we did it just as we said we were going to do it,” said Milei.
“We had a recession in a few months … and we also said that afterwards … the economy would go up like a diver's fart. And guess what? The bubbles are starting to show,” Milei said in typically colourful remarks.
The President admitted austerity had made a deep impact on Argentina, but he argued that the “effort must imply progress because if not, it is not sacrifice, it is martyrdom.”
Poverty affected 52.9 percent of the population in the first half of the year, up 11 points on the same period of 2023.
“I want to say that from now on, every day we will be a little better off than the day before. Instead of being poorer every day, we will be richer every day,” Milei promised in his speech.
According to projections from the World Bank, Argentina's economy will shrink by 3.5 percent this year, before rebounding five percent in 2025.
– TIMES/AFP
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